Article: Where Should Jorge Polanco Play?

[jorgenswest]

I would agree that Dozier in the midst of his prime. At his age, two more seasons close to this year are reasonable.

 

The market for 2Bs seems very limited. I don't think it is anyone's top priority. His bat wouldn't play as well at DH or a corner position. His value is at 2B and there needs to be a team that has a significant need to make a significant offer.

 

Blue Jays? Travis is healthy.

 

Cardinals? They have Carpenter, Diaz, Peralta and Gyorko (as well Wong) under contract next year. With two injuries they have a short term need. They would seek a short term cheaper solution.

 

Pirates? They have committed to Harrison for years with Mercer, Kang and Rodriguez.

 

I don't see the market.

[Oldgoat_MN]

 

Question:  is Polanco a better shortstop that Eduardo Escobar?

 

No.

[Dozier's Glorious Hair]

I have a question for the "TRADE DOZIER" contingent: Do you want him gone because you think we would get a good return for him or do you just want him gone? What I mean is, if the only trade offer for Dozier ended up being for Jim Hoey and Brett Jacobson (or their 2016 equivalent), do you pull the trigger on that particular trade? 

[Oldgoat_MN]

With absolutely no evidence to support it, I am going to pretend that the MLB club has some influence on their farm teams.

 

This would suggest that all have agreed that Polanco is not a SS and we should stop pretending that he is.

 

Now, if we believe that he is not good enough to play SS in AAA but is good enough at the MLB level then our new GM has a great deal of work to do.

[bluechipper]

And we're 1 for 1 with Polanco on the bench. Thanks Paul.

[Jham]

 

I would like to see Sano finish the year at third and start next year at third to really give him a fair shake there.  If you look at the errors he is making at 3B, he is going to be making the same errors at 1B, plus probably more errors on throws from the infielders.

 

Mauer might improve offensively at DH.  Personally, I'd like to see how Mauer does offensively if they give him a game or 2 off each week.  Look at what Suzuki is doing this year when he has only started more than 3 games in a row 3 times all season.   Might work for Joe too.

 

In a Dream World, the Twins could ship Joe off to a team that wins him a World Series.  In that case, I'd like to see Sano at DH and Vargas or Park at 1B.

Hey, it's happening.  Vargas in, Sano at 3rd.  Mauer sitting out.  Maybe he's being dealt to a world series contender playing in a dream world.
 

https://twitter.com/Brandon_Warne/status/759120674166300673

Edited July 29, 2016 by Jham

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

I have a question for the "TRADE DOZIER" contingent: Do you want him gone because you think we would get a good return for him or do you just want him gone? What I mean is, if the only trade offer for Dozier ended up being for Jim Hoey and Brett Jacobson (or their 2016 equivalent), do you pull the trigger on that particular trade? 

 

There should be return (and a nicer one than Nunez I might add), so no, I don't pull the trigger on Hoey/Jacobson. 

 

But to answer the question, I trade him b/c I think Escobar is a decent SS, Polanco should be an above average 2B, Polanco is under control for a long time, Dozier is under control for 2 more years, one of which will at best be a pretender team. 

 

You get the return for him b/c 2 more years of Dozier muddles Polanco's development and really doesn't help this team's short term outlook enough to justify keeping him.

[troyhobbs]

 

I have a question for the "TRADE DOZIER" contingent: Do you want him gone because you think we would get a good return for him or do you just want him gone? What I mean is, if the only trade offer for Dozier ended up being for Jim Hoey and Brett Jacobson (or their 2016 equivalent), do you pull the trigger on that particular trade? 

You just don't want him traded cuz it F's up your user name!

[troyhobbs]

 

 

And we're 1 for 1 with Polanco on the bench. Thanks Paul.

WTF?  That is baffling huh......

[Tom Froemming]

I say third base. If he could play short, they never would have moved him off the position. The team hopes to compete sometime over the next 2 years, so I expect Dozier to stay.

 

Plouffe should be traded at next month's waiver trade deadline, and it's sinking in for me that Miguel Sano is going to be a man without a position. Instead of trying to fit him into the team's needs, they should put him in the best position to succeed, which unfortunately is DH.

 

Obviously that's going to muddy things up for Vargas and Park (Mauer's not going anywhere), but it does open the door for Polanco to play 3B everyday.

[Dozier's Glorious Hair]

 

You just don't want him traded cuz it F's up your user name!

 

Nah, I'd just change it to Polanco's Glorious Hair.

 

I'm actually good with Dozier being traded, provided we got a decent return.

[Monkeypaws]

Play them at the positions of need: Sano at 3rd, Polanco at short. 

 

How long did it take Plouffe to become a competent fielder? 

 

Over the course of a season we might have something.

[Kwak]

It's simple, Polanco does what every other Twins infielder does when promoted--he plays the OUTFIELD.

[7r4de me]

Trade polanco. If everyone else thinks he is going to so great then let them take the risk. I like the idea that we could be buyers right now and maybe we can get a player who is good now (who we can also control for a few years), and actually try to contend sooner rather than later (not necessarily in 2017). Package him with grossman and/or a bullpen arm and try and get someone really good. Money isn't an issue right?

[Kwak]

 

 

 

How long did it take Plouffe to become a competent fielder? 

 

 

We're still waiting.

[operation mindcrime]

With an organization that knows how to utilize him!

[Thrylos]

 

It is hard to believe the AAA staff and the organizational as a whole would take a guy that might actually be the best option for shortstop and never play him there. If true, there are much bigger problems to worry about than Polanco getting playing time the next few weeks.

 

How hard is it to believe that for this organization?  Seriously.  And, yes, there are bigger problems to worry about and hopefully Pohlad is planning to fix them.

 

 

[Thrylos]

 

I have a question for the "TRADE DOZIER" contingent: Do you want him gone because you think we would get a good return for him or do you just want him gone? What I mean is, if the only trade offer for Dozier ended up being for Jim Hoey and Brett Jacobson (or their 2016 equivalent), do you pull the trigger on that particular trade? 

 

Dozier is blocking better players and there definitely be someone to offer more than that, based on his HRs.  The Twins' have to start selling high.   Dozier (and pretty much all veterans in this team) have been part of the problem.  Time to go, so there might be a solution.  Identical player to Plouffe pretty much, and he should go for the same reasons.

[Riverbrian]

Watch this and tell me again about what the scouts or whoever is saying about his arm strength. I'm not buying it even if people keep typing it. 

 

http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/8878834/v706450083/mindet-polanco-makes-great-diving-stop-for-the-out

 

 

 

[Thrylos]

 

Watch this and tell me again about what the scouts or whoever is saying about his arm strength. I'm not buying it even if people keep typing it. 

 

http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/8878834/v706450083/mindet-polanco-makes-great-diving-stop-for-the-out

 

Thank you.

 

Lots of suburban legends and fantasies are floating about Jorge Polanco's fielding for some reason...

[Monkeypaws]

 

We're still waiting.

 

Competent doesn't mean great - he has improved greatly over the years. He'll never be a gold glove candidate, but many gold glove winners started out as bad or worse the TP.

[jorgenswest]

I don't know why the Twins aren't playing him at SS, but if he can play that position I would replace every one starting involved in the decision starting with Brad Steil and the AAA and AA staffs that see him every day. He was Mientkiewivz's regular shortstop for 2 years. He must not have given good feedback to the organization about Polanco's ability to play SS.

 

There are two possibilities and I tend to think that the Twins are correct on this one in their assessment. I haven't seen him play regularly and have no way of judging otherwise. If the Twins are wrong a lot of people need to be cleared out. You can't miss on a guy who could be a regular SS.

[TheLeviathan]

Just play him, I don't really care where.

[Riverbrian]

 

I don't know why the Twins aren't playing him at SS, but if he can play that position I would replace every one starting involved in the decision starting with Brad Steil and the AAA and AA staffs that see him every day. He was Mientkiewivz's regular shortstop for 2 years. He must not have given good feedback to the organization about Polanco's ability to play SS.

There are two possibilities and I tend to think that the Twins are correct on this one in their assessment. I haven't seen him play regularly and have no way of judging otherwise. If the Twins are wrong a lot of people need to be cleared out. You can't miss on a guy who could be a regular SS.

 

That's where I am and have been for awhile. 

 

When you look at the assessments that they made as an organization... I don't really trust their assessment of Polanco or anyone right now. 

 

Way too much wrong... and way too little right has made me a little jaded. 

[Thrylos]

 

I don't know why the Twins aren't playing him at SS, but if he can play that position I would replace every one starting involved in the decision starting with Brad Steil and the AAA and AA staffs that see him every day. He was Mientkiewivz's regular shortstop for 2 years. He must not have given good feedback to the organization about Polanco's ability to play SS.

There are two possibilities and I tend to think that the Twins are correct on this one in their assessment. I haven't seen him play regularly and have no way of judging otherwise. If the Twins are wrong a lot of people need to be cleared out. You can't miss on a guy who could be a regular SS.

 

 

Another data point:  Baseball America had him as the Twins' best fielding SS 3-4 years ago...

[jorgenswest]

Another data point: Baseball America had him as the Twins' best fielding SS 3-4 years ago...

Additional data...

 

Best Twins defensive infielder last 6 years from BBA. Polanco's ranking following 2010 season.

 

2011- Jorge Polanco

2012- Brian Dozier

2013- Levi Michael

2014- Danny Santana

2015- (can't find book)

2016- Engelb Vielma

 

Not sure about 2015 but they must have liked Dozier, Michael and Santana better at shortstop than Polanco following the 2011-2013 seasons.

Edited July 30, 2016 by jorgenswest

[tobi0040]

Another data point: Baseball America had him as the Twins' best fielding SS 3-4 years ago...

I am not sure what happened. In a few years his reputation went from "slick fielding will stick at SS and weak hitting" to "can't stick at short and good hitter".

 

Maybe the Twins just haven't done a good job assessing their own players? Where they can and can't play, etc. they always seem to be overly critical of young players defensively but okay with Nunez at short. Kurt at catcher. Delmon or willingham in the OF

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

 

Additional data...

Best Twins defensive infielder last 6 years from BBA. Polanco's ranking following 2010 season.

2011- Jorge Polanco
2012- Brian Dozier
2013- Levi Michael
2014- Danny Santana
2015- (can't find book)
2016- Engelb Vielma

Not sure about 2015 but they must have liked Dozier, Michael and Santana better at shortstop than Polanco following the 2011-2013 seasons.

Well then.

 

For what it's worth to the discussion, the 2013 version of Danny Santana committed 32 errors in New Britain. Maybe this is a BBA issue.

[Mr. Brooks]

Try this:

 

Put Dozier at SS – that's where he started out – and Polanco at 2nd. Dozier has the range and arm to be a SS. Now that he's comfortable in the Major Leagues, it's time to make him a little uncomfortable.

 

A former pastor friend of mine said his job (then) was to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comforted." It's time to afflict some of the comforted.

No, Dozier has one of the weakest arms in all of baseball.

[Taildragger8791]

 

No, Dozier has one of the weakest arms in all of baseball.

 

After watching Revere bounce balls to the cutoff man I can't believe that Dozier is anywhere near that tier of arm strength. Even his off balance throws are on a rope, I've never noticed a slow or droopy throw from him.